'It is the tragic story that everybody knows the end to - the doomed Titanic sinks. Its final hours have become the stuff of myth - but how much have the various film versions of the story helped to create and reinforce these legends?'

One good ping deserves another. That's an interesting article and I think those on the Titanic ping list will find it worthwhile. I certainly appreciate you making us aware of this.

One of the myths busted involved the class warfare perpetuated by the liberal filmmakers. The article states:

"No evidence has been given in the course of this case that would substantiate a charge that any attempt was made to keep back the third class passengers." Lord Mersey noted that third class passengers were "reluctant" to leave the ship, "unwilling to part with their baggage", and had difficulty getting from their quarters to the lifeboats.

The article also sets the record straight about J. Bruce Ismay, chairman of the White Star Line:

The 1943 German film Titanic, commissioned by the Nazi propaganda minister Joseph Goebbels, portrays Ismay as a power-mad Jewish businessman who bullies the brave, Teutonic captain into driving the ship too fast through the ice despite being warned that this is reckless.

4
posted on 04/04/2012 10:22:12 PM PDT
by re_nortex
(DP...that's what I like about Texas.)

The 1943 German film Titanic, commissioned by the Nazi propaganda minister Joseph Goebbels, portrays Ismay as a power-mad Jewish businessman who bullies the brave, Teutonic captain into driving the ship too fast through the ice despite being warned that this is reckless.

Interesting. Goebbels and James Cameron had the same point of view.

6
posted on 04/04/2012 10:31:23 PM PDT
by denydenydeny
(The more a system is all about equality in theory the more it's an aristocracy in practice.)

The Sinking of the Titanic and Great Sea Disasters by Logan Marshall was written the year of the disaster and has many true stories of heroism in it. Many consider it the best book ever written about it.

Very interesting. Some of these myths can possibly be traced to a book called A Night to Remember or something like that, which was written years later and was supposed to be a "definitive" account of what happened that night.

Re: Nearer My God To Thee. Whether this was the last tune the band played is debated — survivors’ recollections vary — but it may well have been. The band leader’s family reported that it was a particular favorite of his, and that he had told them that he wanted it played at his own funeral, whenever that came. It was also a standard number in the White Star music book, and thus a tune that the musicians were expected to know by heart.

Very interesting. Some of these myths can possibly be traced to a book called A Night to Remember or something like that, which was written years later and was supposed to be a "definitive" account of what happened that night.

I forget which network did it but back about 1954 A Night to Remember was done as a tv movie, If I recall correctly, and it was one of the best Titanic stories I have seen.

Very interesting. Some of these myths can possibly be traced to a book called A Night to Remember or something like that, which was written years later and was supposed to be a "definitive" account of what happened that night.

The film version of the book will be shown on TCM on Saturday night, April 14, 2012 at 10:00 PM Eastern time. Those on the FreeRepublic Titanic ping list will get a reminder a couple of days before.

By the way, if you want to join that low-volume, no-spam ping list, just FReepmail me. Interest in RMS Titanic is peaking as the 100th Anniversary of her tragic maiden voyage approaches in just a few more days.

16
posted on 04/05/2012 11:27:55 AM PDT
by re_nortex
(DP...that's what I like about Texas.)

CAL: Yes it certainly is. Here is the art you asked for. It is by an artist named Picasso. I am certain he will amount to nothing.

ROSE: Ha ha ha. That is very funny to our 90’s audience, because they know these priceless paintings will sink with the boat.

JACK: Hello, I’m played by Leonardo DiCaprio. Perhaps you have seen the many girls who worship me. You are very pretty.

ROSE: Thank you. So are you.

JACK: I know. Prettier than you, in fact. I am going to put on my “brooding” face now, to ensure that women will keep coming back again and again to see this movie. Later, my white shirt will be soaking wet.

ROSE: While you’re doing that, I will concentrate on standing here and looking pretty, to keep the men in the audience interested until the boat sinks and people start dying. I’ll try to stay attractive by getting my dress wet. Meanwhile, for no apparent reason, I’ll count the lifeboats.

CAL: Excuse me. I do not like you, even though you saved my fiancee’s life. I am going to sneer at you and treat you like dirt because you’re poor, and then I’ll probably be physically abusive to my fiancee, and then, just to make sure the audience really hates me, and to make sure my character is entirely one-dimensional, perhaps I’ll throw an elderly person into the water.

AUDIENCE: Boo! We hate you! Even though all real people have at least a few admirable qualities, we have not been shown any of yours, and plus, you’re trying to come between Leonardo and Kate, and so therefore we hate you! Boo!

(Scene 2)

JACK: I’m glad we snuck away like this so that you could cheat on your fiance.

ROSE: So am I. Even though I am engaged to him and have made a commitment to marry him, that is no reason why you and I cannot climb into the backseat of a car and steam up the windows together. The fact that I am the heroine of the movie will no doubt help the audience forgive me of this, though they would probably be VERY angry indeed if my fiance were to do the same thing to me.

JACK: I agree. First, I would like to draw you.

ROSE: Can I take my clothes off now?

JAMES CAMERON: Yes.

ROSE: But can a movie with five minutes of continuous nudity be at all successful in say, Provo, Utah, where the audiences might not stand for that sort of thing?

JAMES CAMERON: I would be willing to bet that for the first three weeks the film is in release, every single showing at Wynnsong Theater in Provo will sell out.

NARRATOR: According to Wynnsong manager Matt Palmer, that is exactly what happened.

ROSE: All right, then. (sound of clothes hitting the floor)

(Scene 3)

FIRST MATE: Captain, we’re about to hit an iceberg.

CAPTAIN: Great, I could use some ice for my drink. (sound of drinking)

ICEBERG: (hits boat)

FIRST MATE: That can’t be good.

CAPTAIN: Bottoms up!

AUDIENCE: (silence)

FIRST MATE: That was irony, you fools.

AUDIENCE: Boo! Where’s Leonardo?

JACK: I have been informed that this boat is sinking

ROSE: That is terrible

JACK: Would you like to engage in some more immoral-but-justified behavior?

ROSE: Certainly. Let’s steam up some windows.

CAL: (aside) I’m getting the raw end of the deal here. To cement my morally-dubious-yet-somehow-less-annoying-than-you personality, I am going to handcuff Jack to this pipe, here in a room that will soon be filling with water, due to the fact that we are sinking, which I believe has been mentioned previously.

JACK: Why don’t you just shoot me?

CAL: Because then you wouldn’t be able to escape and save Rose from me. Of course, you’re going to die anyway...

AUDIENCE: Don’t spoil it for us!

JACK: He’s right, though. I am doomed.

AUDIENCE: Aww, look how cute he is when he’s doomed.

CAL: I hate you people.

(Scene 4)

JACK: We’re not going to die. At least you’re not.

ROSE: This water is very cold.

JACK: *glugglugglug*

ROSE: He’s gone. I’ll just freeze my lips to this whistle.

(Scene 5)

150 YEAR OLD ROSE: And that’s when Jack rescued me from my evil fiance and helped me float on a board in the water. Of course, if it hadn’t been for having to rescue HIM, I could have gotten on an actual lifeboat, and not frozen my legs off. Anyway, he’s pretty much dead now, and I’m well over a thousand years old, and who’s making my supper? I need a bath. Turn down that Enya music, it’s making my ears hurt. You kids today, with your loud music. Why, when I was - hey! Don’t you walk away from me, Mr. Snooty-Patootie! I’d turn you over my knee, if I had one. I’ll beat you in the head with this huge diamond! Come back here!

(Fade to black. Roll credits, accompanied by that annoying Celine Dion song and the sound of James Cameron counting a huge pile of cash.)

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